This is a small-group taxi tour for cruise ship passengers anchored in Shimizu Port. Although several bus tours might be offered to them on the ship, some people still prefer flexibility of a small group. If you are traveling by land, a taxi can also pick you up in the Shizuoka City or Fuji City areas.
Shimizu Port (or a JR station or your hotel in Shizuoka City or Fuji City)
Shimizu Port (or a JR station or your hotel in Shizuoka City or Fuji City)
・It takes about 60 minutes from Shimizu Port by car to reach the main area of the tour. Since we get very close to Mt. Fuji, we can see it prominently in front of us if the weather is fine. (But please do not hold high expectations for viewing Mt. Fuji because we can not see it well when the weather is bad.)
・At Fujisan Hongu Sengen Taisha, the guide will tell you how this beautiful World Heritage shrine has been closely related to Mt. Fuji since ancient times.
・Shiraito Falls is also one of the highlights of this area. Mt. Fuji's ground water gushes out from the rock layers, which is a wonderful sight to see.
・If you are interested in sake (Japanese rice wine) or Japanese-style green tea, it is possible for me to book either a free brewery tour, including free tasting, at a sake brewery, or a casual-style tea-drinking session at a green tea farm.
・Lake Tanuki is also optional. If the weather is fine, you might have a chance to see the famous "postcard-like" view of Mt. Fuji and its reflection on the lake.
・If it rains and Mt. Fuji is barely visible, one of my recommendations would be a visit to the Mt. Fuji World Heritage Centre, Shizuoka, where you can learn Mt. Fuji's fascinating history and simulate climbing it.
Guide fee, tour guide's transportation fees.
・Taxi fare. (We use a chartered taxi for transportation. I'll contact you via text message with an approximate price.)
・Expressway tolls. (We use the Tomei Expressway for part of our trip.)
・Food or drink the guests might buy on the way.
1. This tour have a 4-guest maximum capacity. But, if you are a group of 5 or 6 and are interested in this itinerary, please contact me anyway and I will see if it's possible.
2. This is a 5.5-hour tour, but we need to drive for almost an hour to reach the main area of the tour, and the roads in Fuji City are likely to be congested (especially in the evenings). That is why sometimes it may be a little difficult for a taxi driver to adjust the tour time and finish the tour exactly in 5 hours. So please allow for a little extra time due to the traffic conditions, in which case I will not charge you any extra fees. If you definitely need to keep the tour time to 5.5 hours, please mention that to me beforehand so I can adjust the schedule accordingly.
3. As to a visit to a sake brewery or a green tea farm, please note that, since these facilities are family-run businesses or rather small-scale companies, the booking is subject to change at the last moment.
4. Please refrain from resorting to the "direct booking." I hope you will book after we reach an agreement over the itinerary and the total price (including the taxi fare) through the exchange of text messages.
Not necessarily. If you are traveling by land, I can also pick you up (or drop you off) at a JR station or your hotel in Shizuoka City or Fuji City.
This tour is basically for cruise ship passengers, and we need to avoid the risk of being late for the ship's departure. So I strongly recommend we use the Tomei Expressway between Shimizu IC and Fuji IC. The fare is around 1400 yen (about 13 USD as of August 2018) in total.
Most of the time, you walk on flat roads on this tour, but I am concerned about one part: If you want to get much closer to the Shiraito Waterfalls, you need to walk down a considerable number of stone steps (which means you need to climb up the same steps afterwards), and there are no elevators or paths. So please tell me beforehand if that's going to be a problem (you can see the particular falls without going down the many steps, but it is from a distance of about 250 meters).
We had a wonderful tour. Koji was an excellent tour guide, and we had a most enjoyable day. Unfortunately, it was cloudy, so we did not see Mt Fuji. Nevertheless both Koji and his driver made sure that we had an enjoyable time, making sure that we saw all we wanted to see. Thank you for a lovely day.
Dear Susan, I am glad you seem to have arrived back at home safely. Many thanks for your kind review! I am relieved you could find some sort of pleasure in the tour despite the weather. The driver and I also enjoyed the time with you two. Please take care, and send our regards to Phil. Thank you very much.
Koji kept in constant touch with me once we agreed to hire him. The issue, of course, was the best time to see Mt Fuji. As it happened we had a most glorious day. We were a group of 5 with varying physical limitations. Koji adapted to and kept watch over us and was so very knowledgeable about what we were viewing I feel so very fortunate to have selected Koji as our guide. 5 stars +++
Dear Marylin, Many thanks for taking my tour yesterday and writing the generous and wonderful review! It was a great pleasure for me to guide you five through the Shimizu area. Well, I am sorry some of you, especially your husband, couldn’t see all of Kunozan Toshogu Shrine (mainly because of its daunting stone steps), but I wish they could find enjoyment, in some form or another, in the tour. Thank you very much, and please take care for the rest of your trip.
Koji adjusted our tour during the cruise stop in Shimizu to take into account my disability. He was very knowledgeable, friendly, and helpful; we couldn't find a better guide. Everything was very well planned.
Dear Sir, Many thanks for writing the warm comment. It was an honor for me to guide you two. You might have thought that it was unfortunate Mt. Fuji was too shy to appear during the tour, but I hope you will think about it in a positive way: for example, now you have one reason to revisit Japan in the future! Please be well, and send my best regards to your wonderful wife Irene.
A wonderful day with an excellent guide and driver, despite rain. Koji greeted us with a supply of towels, handled our bulky umbrellas, stopped to purchase a poncho for my husband before we headed out. My husband was not able to negotiate stairs, but stayed with our driver while Koji and I explored Kunozan Toshogu Shrine (in more rain). Informative explanations with additional stops at a tea field and Miho Pine Grove made this day.
Dear Barbara, Thank you very much for taking my tour and writing the generous comment about it! Well, It was a rainy day, and we managed to see the traditional ceremony at the shrine and the legendary sword in the museum, but Mt. Fuji was always thickly covered with clouds. Nevertheless, I spent an enjoyable time with you and your husband, and I hope you could enjoy some aspects of the tour, too. I thanked the taxi driver for helping us a lot during the tour and will thank him again the next time I meet him. Please be well, and if possible, please visit Japan again some day in the future.